Musings of a barefoot traveller

In case you think I might have converted to the 'other side (of the world's oceans)' and gone completely Caribbean, I still rather miss diving in good ole Singapore! So I haven't ever seen a hammerhead or 30m vis, but there're sea slugs! allied cowries! sea whip shrimps! and so much more...such as the little critters below! And yes, the photos were taken a year ago...yes, I know I'm very slow when it comes to editing and posting photos. I'm working on it, 'kay? See how clear the water was! I miss seeing corals... ...and branching Acropora too... Allied cowries were everywhere on the seabed! In pretty colours matching their sea whip hosts Except, erm, for this one. We surmised that it could be colour-blind... Colourful flatworms were commonly seen too Flatworm and sea squirt This was a large one! And smaller sea whip shrimps too Really love sea slugs...they are so cute! Zee got very excited about this phyllid. That's her finger there showing you how ...

Looks like I'm spending the weekend in Wilmington after all! Short of a miracle happening in the next two hours...but...nah, I don't think so...I have a better chance of striking 4-D with the licence plate number of the driver who struck my car and then refused to pay for the damages. So much for my visa being approved this week...I found out yesterday that visas have to be approved by the Security Council in Panama, and they only meet once a week. If my application wasn't considered this week, it's shifted to the next. Why only tell me now? Why can't they just tell me when the meeting date was? I was expecting my visa to maybe come in today, and paid %#$%#$@^ $280 to change my flight to tomorrow. And I have to change it again? How much more must I pour down this black hole? Plus I don't even know if and when my ^$#^$%^#@$%^$ visa will be approved. Felt like smashing a multitude of breakable crockery last night, I'm so frustrated! Looks like I'm just not...

After a morning of extreme confusion (and trauma...for I was thoroughly roasted for my oral exam), finally worked out a possible avenue for the whole Panama visa issue. Called the consulate in Washington, and it turns out that I'm not supposed to be able to enter Panama without a visa. So much for the 'leave the visa at the Panama airport' idea. The moderately better news is, that my visa is supposed to be approved by the end of this week, latest latest. So say I get the approval on Friday, if I can persuade the consulate to return my passport through express delivery, I'll get it on Saturday, be able to fly on Sunday, and catch the early morning internal flight to Bocas on Monday, thus only effectively missing 2 days of the course. Phew. Now if only things were a little more confirmed...for e.g., at least tell me what date you can give the approval! Each ticket change with Delta would cost me at least $200, sigh....

So I've been emailing the Smithsonian External Affairs i/c in an effort to see if my visa could get approved and my passport returned before I'm due to leave on Thursday. Now it seems like I have to request for an overnight delivery of my passport from D.C., without the visa in it, and for my visa to be sent to the airport in Panama (if it gets approved by then...else, I guess I might be deported...). The story doesn't end there. Even though the visa is approved, I can't get it attached at the airport immigration. They have to confiscate my passport, and I have to go to the Immigration office to pick it up after 2 working days. My connecting flight is supposed to be on Friday, 3pm, and the course starts on Saturday morning. Apparently I can't fly without my passport too. If I wait till Monday, I'll miss 3 days of lessons. And it's the intro to sponge taxonomy and morphology too! Sighs... All these madness, while I'm trying to study for the oral exam on M...

昨晚终于煮了三菜一汤的晚餐. It was something that always seemed a little overly sumptuous for one person, so that's one of the advantages of having a roommate! There was chai-poh omelette, stir-fried mustard greens (tasted like old chye sim ) with garlic and mushrooms, steamed tofu with radish pickled in chili oil, and some egg drop soup leftover from 2 days ago. Really a lot of 'cheena' taste in there :). No photos, cos we were both too famished!

Had a very tiring weekend shifting bulky and heavy items to my new domicile, trying to hook up the washer and dryer, and just crashed last night surrounded by boxes and piles of my stuff. Just when I thought the stressful part is more or less over and I can start studying for my oral exam, I called the Panamanian consulate this morning to ask when I can get my passport back. Horrors of horrors- the lady on the line said that it's in Panama now and not to expect it for 1 1/2 months! The course would be over by then!! ARRGAHAGHHGHGHG.... GAAAAHHHHH.... My only recourse is to ask the Smithsonian to call the immigration department in Panama and see if they could speed things up, plus somehow pass my passport back to me by next Wednesday...gaaaaaakkkkk.......

Poetry is my solace, and my refuge... (WB Yeats) THAT is no country for old men. The young In one another's arms, birds in the trees - Those dying generations - at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect.

I've just submitted my ISRS/TOC fellowship application, mailed off the prospectus to the department, and it's just a relief to know that I'm done with paperwork, at least for the moment. It's hard to believe that in a little more than 2 weeks, I'll be off to Panama for my sponge field course, apparently also fully prepared to carry out all the experiments I'm supposed to do there. It's crazy how unprepared I feel for the whole thing- never been to Central or South America, can't speak Spanish to save my life, no clue as to the layout of where things and places are. And reams of papers on sponges to read in preparation for the course. It's definitely a new experience for someone who's so anal about doing exhaustive research on whatever locale she visits. But I suppose things will fall into place as the time approaches. I hope. What's next? My oral qualifying exam looms! August 13th, 9am, is the date and time. I've done the rounds, got my s...

Had a meeting with the boss today, and since I didn't have that much of success this field season (i.e. can't publish anything with the data I've obtained), my application for PhD has been pushed to the next semester, with the hope that I enter the programme in Fall 2008. Was a little down the last few weeks thinking about the delay in my plans, and how I can't finish up my degree as fast as I wanted, or how I still have to go through my Masters oral examination, but... actually, after confirming it with Boss, it's not so bad after all. Sure, it'll be nice to have a higher salary (no TKK scholarship this year, sniffs), but after all, I chose a field project, and these are the risks associated with a field intensive project. So it's really my 'fault' after all, and I can't complain too much. I'm just glad Boss didn't can my project or ask me to work on something more realistic. Time to work harder this semester and get more grant applicati...

...just don't go together... I'm cursed, cursed! I tell you. Got involved in a minor collision while scoping out an apartment complex near Monkey Junction. Some dunderhead reversed out of the lot without looking and smacked right into my car's passenger door. Eric tried to sound the horn but hit the center of the steering wheel was which just plastic not linked to any sound making device. My poor car. What did it do to deserve such abuse? So I got this huge dent, and when we got out of the car, the other driver asked whether I wanted to call in the cops, and I said 'yes', and he apparently made the call on his cell. Half an hour of impatiently waiting for the cops to arrive later, he asked if he could go and pick up his wife, who was waiting at work, and that he'll be right back. Seeing his young boy in the car, I relented. After all, I got his particulars and the cops coming right? ....One and a half hours later...no cops or errant driver in sight!!! ARGRHGHRGH...

Didn't get the TKK Scholarship this year...boo... Oh wells, I'm just glad that I was even selected last year, given how unbillingual I am. Win some, lose some I guess!

Isn't it cool? The hammerhead that Wai and I saw on our first dive at San Salvador. It actually wheeled around and swam right by us again! Couldn't resist getting a little closer, it's so hard to get a good shot of a shark! Tim thought I breached the 100ft limit for dives, but I was exactly at 100ft, haha! I'm good, huh? Anyway, I do have photos of other stuff from the Bahamas. The first 20 up online make up my portfolio for the little photo competition we had on the cruise (Wai came in 2nd!). And here it is ...more photos to come later!

Tim and I and the only ones left in the 100% club, so termed because we are the last two standing who have gone for every single pre-dawn dive to measure the photosynthetic efficiency of corals in response to sponge extracts. Today marks the 5th time this cruise that I've woken up at 4am (for the first week 4x in a row), and I've not been blogging much as all this lack of sleep have left me pretty much *$^%#^#* tired. Today the sting is felt hardest of all, as the rest of the cruise participants are going for a wonderful dive at the Pinnacles, while Tim and I have to sit out to avoid reverse profiling....SOBS.....no point hovering at 60ft either, cos thats where the Pinnacles actually start...Ahs, the sacrifices one makes in for the sake of science. Well, to console myself, the dive this morning was actually rather nice. The water was warm and clear, the corals were pretty, fishes darted about, and we finished the dive witthout Tim stabbing me in the forehead with a pair of sc...

Well, we've packed stuff away in totes (we call them tubs :)) and loaded the trailer today, and planned the meeting times and places for tomorrow. So crossing our fingers for good weather, and speedy work processes, and not to forget anything too important. Looking forward to the diving :) ...

After a long and painful two days, I finally revised my literature review for my thesis prospectus, and hopefully this time it is worthy enough to greet the hallowed eyes of my graduate thesis committee. One more proposal to go this weekend, for a scholarship application, and then another mega-application for a big fellowship, due July. Faugh! I definitely need to get some ice-cream now...

I'm pretty upbeat today, despite the fact that my thesis project is going down the toilet. Why, you ask? Well, although, I've already scrapped Plans A and B, and have to come up with Cs and Ds as we go along, at least I know what's not working out, and can do something about it. Definitely better than plotting and planning all semester, and pinning all my hopes on a piece of paper. As those in the know would realise, you have to be a little insane to do research on ecology. Sure, there are perks, such as the very obvious one of diving for work (no-one tells you of the seasickness and the long long hours), and getting paid (albeit peanuts) to dive on coral reefs in exotic locations (sometimes). For me, one of the major thrills is the challenge of unravelling the mysteries behind each organism that make up an ecosystem. Each time I dive, I'm just amused and amazed at the wonderful complexity that can arise from a driver as simple as natural selection, something akin to fr...

After four looong looong days of waiting, we finally got to dive today! Even then, things looked a little uncertain in the morning- waves were 5-7ft high, with the occasional 8 footer rolling in. But the dive boats were going out, and as Steve said, we would be wussies if we didn't! Things seemed steady at first, but as we left the shelter of the shallows, I could begin to see why small craft advisories were in place for the past week. Stomachs churned as we rocked and bobbed on the roiling sea towards Conch Reef. As we geared up and strapped our BCs on, I finally threw in the towel, and decided that donating my breakfast to the sea was preferable to holding it in and spewing cereal on my labbies in the boat. It was definitely preferable to stay deep down underwater then bucking about on the surface, so we decided on super-short intervals, changed tanks quickly, and jumped right back in. Coming back wasn't too easy too. Slammed myself against the boat while hanging on the ladde...

Okay, here are the photos of the shaving process! I still have to get used to not needing to tuck my hair behind my ears anymore :). It was really hot in Key Largo, had to stick pins all over and tie it up just to keep the hair off my neck and out of my face... See how long it was? The guys really enjoyed this part... I had a lot of hair... The finished product! Want to see the front? Gotta wait till you see me in person! :)

I finally did it! I had my hair shaved off. Not completely though, didn't want to walk around with a blistered head....but I now have a half-inch fuzz on my crown. Takes a little getting used to, seeing myself in the mirror, but gosh, I never knew it felt so cooling! And I certainly provided a lot of entertainment for the guys. They even skipped Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider to attack my hair with gusto and stainless steel scissors. Joe finished off with the clippers, set to #6. Now I have to apply sunblock to my scalp before going out! How strange...

What's blowing in the wind, you ask? My Masters thesis, that's what. Endured a 14 hour drive from Wilmington down to Key Largo yesterday, only to find out that because of gusty winds and rough seas, we might be grounded till Sunday...So everything's been pushed back almost a week, and we can't stay on longer than 5th June, so it'll be a mad scramble next week to get everything in before we have to return. On the plus side, I guess I have not slept so well as I did last night for weeks, and I took a very nice healthful walk during sunset today. Tim, Steve, and the NURC guys hooked up my pneumatic drill today, and we took it for a test run on a limestone rock sitting in the parking lot. Not too bad, I just need to find a way to start drilling cleanly, so I don't score the coral surface so much. We went to pick up Sven and Kyle from Miami airport 3 hours earlier than we planned, except Steve took a wrong turn and we ended up stuck in Miami traffic for about 2 hours...